The first two Quickphone kiosks have been installed in Manchester and are expected to spring up at railway stations, airports, music festivals and shopping centres nationwide.

The idea is that, for £30, people will be able to buy a mobile phone with a fully-charged battery and £1 worth of call credit. They can use the phone without registering their name or address with Vodafone.

The phones have been developed exclusively for Vodafone UK by Unipart Technology Logistics, of Siskin Drive, Baginton.

Unipart's Vodafone account director Maurice Daw said: "We are delighted with the Quickphone kiosks and hope it will be just the first of many concepts, inspired by ourselves, to come on stream in the UK."

Vodafone said the kiosks could be installed anywhere with an electricity supply and were aimed especially at people needing a phone in an emergency.